Talk:Ardent Dawn Avant/@comment-28325155-20160511234952/@comment-5551215-20160512231156
Elza seems like a really good choice. 90% spark buff is nothing to sneeze at, plus she's got some other very efficient buffs and she's a good sparker. I'd keep her in there. I would probably replace Kira though. Reis is the obvious choice if you just want a better crit buffer, but you have some nice options available. (Also, if the content you're facing isn't crit resistant, then Avant might be a better leader than Sirius as far as damage buffing goes. Sirius is still really good otherwise. Couple of other nice LS floating around there.) OE Selena would be great for hard content. She gives BB management and HoT, which will combine well with Krantz's burst heal. Plus her OE form is already released and you can get her started on that path. She overlaps with Elza, but Selena's healing is already stronger (plus you could get the enhancement buff), and she has it on her BB as well, for the same amount of insane healing in a pinch. Selena can become a status cleanser on BB/SBB, which would be helpful if you're auto-attacking. You could easily get both enhancements for the same Selena. Her BC/HC buff is also very good and with the spark fill buff from Sirius, she'll keep your gauges full in any content that isn't super resistant to drop rates. I think she'd be your best choice if anything is giving you serious survivabilty problems, especially since she has an Angel Idol ES. Her LS could be useful in that circumstance as well, even though you don't have very many water types and both are kind of outclassed. OE Lance would also be a good choice in hard content. His SBB defense buff is bigger than what Sirius has (so just have him go after Sirius), he has a barrier effect, and he already has status cleansing on BB/SBB, allowing for Krantz with full SBB to burst heal instead. Lance has an attack conversion option under enhancements too, which will synergize nicely with Sirius, if for some reason you don't want to bring Avant. Lance also pairs really well with Isterio and Elza if the content you're facing needs status infliction, depending on how you set up his enhancements (and he pairs well with Zeal regardless.) If it doesn't put you out, I'd highly recommend working on both Selena and Lance, if you haven't started already. Lance also has a decent LS if you need to reduce damage. If you're going for an all OE team eventually, you could swap out both Kira and Elza, when the day comes, and just use Eze friends for spark buffing! Zeal is amazingly efficient BB management, but he overlaps with Sirius and Avant a lot. Still, he'd be amazing if for some reason you don't need Avant and decide to bring him along with Lance or Isterio (like if you're facing a really tough water opponent), plus Zeal has a bigger BB attack buff and spark vulnerability damage. He has a little bit of overlap with Sirius and Elza, but those two have a more auto-battle friendly spark BB fill buff and BB fill over time. His BB will help out in a pinch though and his BC/HC buff is the same as Zelnite and Selena's buff. His LS skill is as good as Sirius, though it boosts BB attack instead of Spark damage. Zelnite is an old favorite of mine. He's still good if you're trying to gain levels, items, and/or money/karma and is also useful for harder content. He doesn't overlap too much, but his item drop rate can be a pain if your inventory isn't that big. Only use him as a leader if you're trying to get XP/farming for materials. Overall he's still more useful than the dragon. If you want your gauges always full but don't feel Selena's healing is necessary and don't want the overlap from Zeal, then Zelnite's your man! His BB gauge fill over time is slightly better too. He has BB fill on taking damage and also a buff for filling the OD gauge on his BB. These are both great buffs, but they're only useful in content where you either need as much BB fill as humanly possible or you really need that UBB fast, and in those instances you might want to bring Selena or Lance as well, so a little more shuffling might be in order, if that's the case. If you're trying to nuke everything to hell and back, use Rize. She doesn't give much in the way of buffs, but she hits like a mack truck at full health. With Elza, Krantz, Sirius, and Avant, this squad has most of the core buffs that you would need, and you could easily get defense conversion and barrier from a Kuyluk friend. If you just need more firepower, Rize is a powerful choice. She's great in Frontier Hunter, especially if you bring a friend's Eze or manage to get one for yourself. The minor amount of overlap with Sirius isn't a big deal and Eze's attack buff is bigger anyway. :) Tazer is useful for Balmedia's tail... If you need a single target infinite SBB, there are better ones out there, but he's still servicable. Kagura is just as circumstantial, since you'd basically need to be using him, her, Selena, Shera, and Rize for the elemental damage buff to be worth it. Elza straight up beats Claire, so I don't think you'll use her other than maybe the Fire Gate. Whoo! Sorry I got so long-winded. In future, you could also try out a global squad builder website/app that I know of. Just google it and it'll show you the overlap and exact % buffs all on one page. I probably should have used that myself, but I got all excited and opened a bunch of tabs like a silly goose, and then the sunk cost fallacy got me after that :P :) TL;DR OMG EYES GLAZING OVER Keep Elza. Top picks for replacing Kira: Reis, if it isn't Crit Resisant. OE Selena, OE Lance, or 7* Zelnite in various tough content. All of them have some overlap, but it's negligable for what you get in return. Selena's heal is better and Lance's def buff is better; just have her go after Elza and him after Sirius. Frontier Hunter is Rize, Rize, Rize. '''If you choose an Eze friend, then swap Elza out for Reis. Swap Krantz for Shera if you pick up a friend with all elements buff, like Allanon, Zeruiah, or Shida. She'll serve as a replacement spark blanket. '''Future Possible OE Squad Composition: Sirius, Avant, Krantz, Selena, Lance, Friend Eze. Isterio works well as a replacement for Avant in certain circumstances (mostly ailment infliction) but so does OE Lance with the attack conversion enhancement (though he doesn't need it if you're bringing Isterio.) Zeal also works really well if you're not using Avant and don't mind the small overlap with Elza and Sirius. Alternative Multi-Purpose Squad Composition: '''Isterio, Lance, Zeal/Sirius/Zelnite, Elza, Krantz/Shera. Sirius could also be brought in as a Helper Friend from your own inventory, or substituted for the mitigator in easier content. Only bring Zeal instead of Sirius if you're willing to juggle BB/SBB; Zelnite especially if you're farming. Lance as lead is great for survivability, but with Isterio at the helm, this is also a good team for quick Monday acheivement points. '''Update: Whoops! ''I made two mistakes regarding Zelnite. '' First, his BC/HC buff on his BB/SBB is only 25% compared to Selena and Zeal's 35%! Note that if he's the leader his LS will add 20% to that, but in general he's not a better leader when it comes to any content where that would matter. In hard content, his BB buff upon being hit might make up the difference, but otherwise their buffs are superior. Second, his BB fill is instantaneous, instead of over 3 turns. The wording makes this harder to determine, but that seems to be the cause as far as the Global Squad Builder is concerned. So, it's quite plausible to have a situation where you want to bring Zelnite for OD gauge filling, BB fill on being hit, and instant gauge fill in situations where you're so close but the SBB gauge isn't full. I also forgot that Zeal also adds a boost to the BB fill rate, by 40%, on his BB. So if you need excellent BB management, you could have some combination of Selena, Zelnite, Elza, and Zeal. They do overlap, so probably the best situation was if you either weren't using one of them, like Elza maybe, or you were having some serious problems getting those gauges up to SBB level every turn. This can happen in some of the hardest content, but it's also food for thought regarding anything where multiple squads are involved (like Grand Quest.)